Minister V.K. Singh, pitcher Dinesh Patel attend among guests.
By Hajra Ajlan
More than 1,200 dignitaries attended US Independence Day celebrations hosted by the Embassy of the United States at the Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi on Thursday.
Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh was the chief guest at the event. The guests included government officials, businessmen, diplomats, and members of the civil society.
The theme of this year’s celebration was baseball. Citing the stories of Indian pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, US Ambassador to India Richard Verma said that baseball had brought the two nations together.
Patel, who played professional baseball in the United States for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, attended the celebrations. He and Singh were drafted by the Pirates after they won a reality show competition, The Million Dollar Arm.
“There is also a long history of baseball in the state of Manipur,” Verma said. “US soldiers who were stationed there during WWII would play pickup baseball games with Manipuris during their deployment. To this day, baseball is an influential part of Manipur’s culture, with women and girls among the most talented and passionate players,”
Praising the US-India people-to-people connections, Verma said that they “form the foundation of trust and interconnectedness that will help us tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges together. When the people of India and the people of the United States gained their independence, they designed liberal representative democracies that put freedom of conscience and self-rule above all else. It only makes sense that the United States and India are natural partners – we have so much in common.”
The highlight of the celebration was a magnificent performance by the US Army’s 25th Infantry Division Band, Paradise Brass, who flew in from Hawaii for the event.
The celebration at US Consulate in Mumbai was attended by veteran Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who was the guest of honor at the event.